Google Chicago

At Google Chicago, our engineers develop products used by people around the world, and
our sales teams help advertisers big and small engage their target markets. We don’t shy
from the heavy lifting - pretty fitting, in the City of Big Shoulders.

Hangout On Air: Engineering at Google Chicago

Lead recruiter Jeff Moore chats with Chicago engineers Brian “Fitz” Fitzpatrick and
Ben Collins-Sussman in a Hangout on Air hosted by the Life at Google Google+ page.
They cover everything from the history of the Chicago office to the types
engineering work happening in the Windy City during this 30 minute conversation.

Accomplishments

Our advertising and enterprise sales teams work with some of the biggest companies in
the world, and our online sales and operations teams help small and medium-sized
businesses grow using Google products.

Address

Inside Google Chicago

Birthplace of Chicago blues and house music, home to the world's first skyscraper and
controlled nuclear reaction (mad props to Enrico Fermi), our city has a history of
creativity and innovation. At Google Chicago, we do our very best to keep the
tradition alive.

Our sales teams work with businesses of all sizes, including some of the world's
largest advertisers and agencies, helping them reach target audiences and be more
productive. And our engineers develop products like Google Web Server, DoubleClick,
the Google Affiliate Network, Google+ Analytics, the Data Liberation Front, the
Transparency Report and Google Code.

We have the critical mass to drive core sales and product initiatives. At the same
time, we're encouraged to solve problems without jumping through bureaucratic hoops,
and everyone here has a voice that matters, from VPs to Nooglers.

When we're not in meetings or online, we keep the creativity flowing by making
art with paintball guns or
constructing elaborate "blox" structures. Behold the mystery and grandeur of
Bloxhenge. And with local beer and chocolate tastings and live jazz, our weekly
Thursday IIFYs ("is it Friday yet?") are a cut above your typical all-hands meeting.

"Make no little plans," said Daniel Henry Burnham, architect of the 1893 World's
Colombian Exposition, which made Chicago famous. "Make big plans; aim high in hope
and work." At Google Chicago, we follow his advice every day. So much so that we even
have Burnham’s signature Plan for
Chicago available on Google Books.

Our engineers build global products. Our sales teams work with global clients. We get
everything that’s great about Google, and we get to be in Chicago.

- Jim Lecinski, VP of Sales

Google Chicago: Frequently Asked Questions

What makes Chicago different from other Google locations?

Imagine a Windy City version of Google, and that’s pretty much what you’ll find here.
We’re in the heart of the city in the Near North Side, just a few minutes’ walk from
the Magnificent Mile, Millennium Park and the Chicago River (yes, they dye it green for
St. Patrick’s Day). Our top floor has amazing views of the city, and our office is as
Googley as they come, with awesome free food, exercise balls, beanbag chairs and
enormous Google logos made of stained glass, paintball ink and
bloxes. As one of the largest Google offices in the US, we’re home to many company
leaders.

What kinds of work do Chicago Googlers do?

On the business side, we have significant advertising and enterprise sales teams
serving large clients as well as online sales and operations teams serving more locally
focused small and medium-sized businesses. On the technology side, our engineers
develop products like Google Web Server (the proprietary Linux-based platform for all
of our Search products), DoubleClick, the Google Affiliate Network, Google+ Analytics
(which helps businesses optimize their social efforts), the Data Liberation Front (which gives users control
over their data) and the Transparency Report (including Traffic and Government
Requests).

Has Google Chicago launched any notable products?

Yep, we built Google Code (our site for developers) and the Data Liberation Front,
including
Google Takeout. Want to check out the brushwork on the Mona Lisa or Grant Wood’s
American Gothic? We’re also responsible for portions of the Art Project bringing the collections of museums
including the Louvre and the Art Institute of Chicago online.

How do Chicago Googlers have fun?

Every summer, we have an enormous picnic for all our Googlers, their families and
guests. We have holiday parties at cool venues like the Museum of Modern Art, and our
team off-sites include activities like sailing, skiing, and sausage-making (pretty much
the perfect choice here in the land of da Bulls, da Bears and da Google). We have an
awesome game room, with everything from Xboxes and Wiis to foosball to a robot that
plays ping pong. We enter a float in the annual Pride Parade. We’ve had notable
visitors like our mayor, Rahm Emanuel, and chef Rick Bayless. We’ve had Lollapalooza
acts like DJ White Shadow and Cold War Kids perform in our office. And the Google Web
Server team has driven across the country in an RV (checkout their roadtrip blog
here).

What does Google Chicago do to build relationships with the local community?

We support the local branch of the National Society of Black Engineers, National
Engineers Week, National Lab Day and Girls in Engineering Day, and help judge the FIRST
Robotics Competition. We participate in Chicago Ideas Week and high school science fair
workshops, and support computer science teachers via our CS4HS initiative. We provide
space and resources to non-profit tech incubators, and host or co-host events including
ORD Camp, the Parent Internet Safety Workshop and the Internet Bootcamp for Your
Business. And we are big supporters of the Museum of Science and Industry.

Are there any notable Chicago Googlers?

We’re home to Google’s president of sales in the Americas, Margo Georgiadis. Several of
our Googlers have been named to the Crain’s Chicago Business 40 Under 40 list,
including engineering manager Brian Fitzpatrick and Sales Director Sam Sebastian. And
sales managing director Jim Lecinski wrote Winning the Zero Moment of Truth.

Life at Google Chicago

Chicago engineering team takes on government transparency project

Transparency is a best practice at Google. The Chicago-based Google Transparency
Report makes government requests ...